Of Kings and Queens: The Modern Monarchy Quiz

The British royals get all the attention, but there are plenty of other monarchies around the world. They're all jaw-droppingly rich, of course, but some of these rulers are more well known — and have more power — than others. How much do you know about today's monarchs?

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Question 1 of 30

This British king ushered in the age of the royal scandal when he abdicated the throne to marry an American divorcee.

King Edward VIII

The British royals were certainly no strangers to scandal before this, but King Edward VIII really shocked the world with his marriage to Wallis Simpson in 1937.

King George V

King Charles III

Question 2 of 30

Grace Kelly shocked the world when she dropped her career in movies to marry this man and become the princess consort of Monaco.

Charles III

Albert II

Rainier III

Kelly was 26 when she left Hollywood to wed Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

Question 3 of 30

This Japanese crown princess is only the second commoner to ever marry into the royal family.

Masako

Harvard graduate Crown Princess Masako married Crown Prince Naruhito in 1993. Her mother-in-law, Michiko, was the first commoner to take the leap.

Sayako

Michiko

Question 4 of 30

Name the three African countries that are monarchies.

Lesotho, Morocco and Swaziland

Many African ethnic and tribal groups have monarchs, but Lesotho, Morocco and Swaziland are the only African countries that are still ruled by a monarch (in all cases, by kings).

Burundi, Malawi and Zimbabwe

Tanzania, Eritrea and Ivory Coast

Question 5 of 30

When was Queen Elizabeth II's coronation?

1947

1949

1953

Although she became queen in 1952, Elizabeth II's coronation was June 2, 1953.

Question 6 of 30

This Asian country changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one (in which the monarch's power is limited) in 2008.

Laos

Bhutan

Bhutan held its first elections in 2008.

Cambodia

Question 7 of 30

The Spanish royal family belongs to the House of _______.

Brandy

Bourbon

The House of Bourbon originated in France and branched off into Spain by the 19th century.

Sherry

Question 8 of 30

According to an edict written in 1607, this country is jointly ruled by the head of the French state and the Bishop of La Su d'Urgell, Spain.

Andorra

Tiny Andorra — located on the border of France and Spain — has two rulers.

Liechtenstein

Luxembourg

Question 9 of 30

Who are the children of Prince William and Princess Kate of the United Kingdom?

George and Charlotte

Prince George became third in line to the throne when he was born in 2013. His sister, Princess Charlotte, followed almost two years later.

Phillip and Alexandra

Arthur and Elizabeth

Question 10 of 30

The emperor of Japan sits on the "_______ Throne."

Chrysanthemum

Emperor Akihito is the 125th monarch to reign from the Chrysanthemum Throne.

Violet

Camellia

Question 11 of 30

Who are the king and crown princess of Norway?

Jens and Hilde

Harald and Sonja

King Harald V and Crown Princess Sonja are the rulers (in name, anyway) of Norway.

Sven and Astrid

Question 12 of 30

The ruler of this country is known as the ngwenyama (lion).

Swaziland

Swaziland's ngwenyama is Mswati III, who was only 18 when he took the throne in 1986.

Lesotho

Tanzania

Question 13 of 30

In birth order, who are the children of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of the United Kingdom?

Charles, Andrew, Henry and Anne

Anne, Charles, George and Andrew

Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward

Prince Charles (1948) is the heir to the throne, followed by Anne (1950), Andrew (1960) and Edward (1964).

Question 14 of 30

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is credited for turning this country into the world's richest.

Qatar

Thanks to its oil reserves, Qatar became a world player during Sheikh Hamad's reign. He gave up power to his son in 2013.

United Arab Emirates

Bahrain

Question 15 of 30

This British military academy boasts a long list of both British and foreign royal alumni.

Sandhurst

Princes William and Harry graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, as did their uncle Prince Edward, the Sultan of Brunei, King Hussein of Jordan and Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar.

Eton

St. Andrew's

Question 16 of 30

The queen of this country graduated from Princeton.

Luxembourg

Jordan

Queen Noor of Jordan was born Lisa Halaby in Washington. She graduated from Princeton in 1973 and married King Hussein of Jordan in 1978. He died in 1999, but she still holds the title of queen.

Spain

Question 17 of 30

Which Asian country became independent from the United Kingdom in 1984 and is now ruled by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah?

Nepal

Thailand

Brunei

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has ruled Brunei with full executive power since 1967.

Question 18 of 30

This British royal was secretly photographed topless in 1992, with her financial adviser sucking her toes.

Princess Margaret

Sarah, Duchess of York

It was all downhill for Sarah and her husband Prince Andrew after those photos came out.

Princess Diana

Question 19 of 30

This king of Saudi Arabia, who died in 2015, took the throne after his half-brother died in 2005.

Abdulrahman Al Saud

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his brother Fahd were two of the reported 67 children of Ibn Saud, who ruled from 1932 to 1953.

Question 20 of 30

Who succeeded Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud?

his oldest son

his half-brother

Salman, yet another half-brother, became the King of Saudi Arabia in 2015.

his minister of defense

Question 21 of 30

This country is a monarchy without kings, queens, princes or princesses.

Vatican City

The pope is the monarch of Vatican City.

Oman

Belgium

Question 22 of 30

The crown prince of this country is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Denmark

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark became a member of the IOC in 2009.

Morocco

Saudi Arabia

Question 23 of 30

Princess Diana died in this city.

London

Paris

Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, were killed in a Paris car crash in 1997.

Madrid

Question 24 of 30

In 2006, he was the first male heir born to the Japanese royal family since 1965.

Fumihito

Hisahito

The heir to the Japanese throne, Crown Prince Naruhito, has one daughter. Girls aren't included in the line of succession, so Naruhito's nephew, Hisahito, is third in line to the throne.

Akihito

Question 25 of 30

Who is the only child of Queen Elizabeth II to not have been divorced?

Anne

Andrew

Edward

Elizabeth and Philip's youngest son, Edward, is still married to his first wife. His siblings are long divorced.

Question 26 of 30

The ruler of this country has married (in order) his first cousin, a flight attendant and a TV personality.

Malaysia

Brunei

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's third marriage, to a TV personality 33 years his junior, ended in 2010.

Kuwait

Question 27 of 30

In 2011, Prince Albert of Monaco married a former Olympic swimmer from this country.

South Africa

Albert and South African Charlene Wittstock met at a swim meet in Monte Carlo, Monaco in 2000.

New Zealand

Belgium

Question 28 of 30

Who is the queen of Sweden?

Madeleine

Victoria

Silvia

Queen Silvia met her future husband, the then-Crown Prince Carl Gustaf, at the Berlin Olympics in 1972. Her daughters are Victoria and Madeleine.

Question 29 of 30

Over how many sovereign states does Queen Elizabeth II reign?

none

16

Elizabeth is the constitutional monarch of the 16 nations in the Commonwealth of Nations, but each country has its own government. For the record, here are the 16: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands.

27

Question 30 of 30

A princess from this country wrote a children's book in 2004 called "Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns."

Norway

Princess Martha Louise, daughter of King Harald, penned the book about the royal family of Norway.